Zavfino

Now that I have had three weeks to try out the Zavfino Fusion and Arcadia interconnects (as balanced XLRs), I wanted to update the initial impressions I summarized earlier in this thread. Most of my impressions have remained unchanged. I still think that the Fusions sound clear, open, and quite natural, with well-balanced sound overall. In my system, the Arcadia continues to sound warm, smooth, and forgiving, but the highs sound a bit softened or rounded off. There seems to be plenty of bass, but it doesn't sound particularly well-controlled or refined to me. Imaging is okay, but not outstanding. In contrast, the Fusion is more transparent, images better, and sounds more "real."

Because my early listening favored the sound of the Fusion over the Arcadia, I spent more time with the Fusion and made direct comparisons with my reference XLR, the Cardas Clear Reflection. In comparison to the Cardas CR, the Fusion doesn't sound as full-bodied or rich. It simply has less "meat on the bones," as some reviewers like to say. It was also not as forgiving on poor recordings or as musical on good recordings that included many overlapping layers of sound, such as the song "The Price of Love" on the recent Robert Plant-Alison Krauss album "Raise the Roof." Too often, I thought that the Fusion needed more weight to match the rich fullness of the Cardas CR. In terms of the warm-cool spectrum, I thought the Fusion was fairly neutral while the CR adds a bit of warmth without overdoing it - at least in my system. 

Although I had hoped that the Fusion might equal or even surpass the CR in my system and for my preferences, the CR still won out. Providing amazing clarity and excellent imaging while costing less than a third of what the CR costs, the Fusion XLR is an exceptional value. 

 

@thyname, thanks for the advice. I understand how hard it is to compare cables across different components and differing time periods.
 

@thyname,

I read on another thread that you used to use Cardas Clear Reflection cables. Now that you're building a full loom of Zavfino cables, what specific differences are you noticing when you compare the Zavfino speaker cables and interconnects to those in the Clear Reflection line? I am currently liking my two pairs of Clear Reflection XLRs (between DAC and preamp and between preamp and amps), and I'm now considering adding the CR speaker cables to my system. With respect to sound quality alone, what are the advantages and disadvantages of Zavfino vs Cardas CR? 

Thanks for any detailed comparisons you can provide.

@lalitk,

Earlier in the thread, you mentioned that you preferred the Fusion interconnects to the Arcadia interconnects. I know there are some differences in the metals used (e.g., type of copper, pure silver core in the Fusion), but I'm wondering if you could say a little more about the sound quality differences between these two cables. Raymond says that the Arcadia is their best-selling cable and a great value, but he's clearly even more positive about the technology in the Fusion. 

Thanks for any additional comments on the sound of the Arcadia and Fusion interconnects. 

@lalitk,

Thanks for the very helpful comments! I seem to be very sensitive to "brightness" and prefer a slightly warmer presentation in my system, but I don't want the high end to sound rolled off or excessively softened. From your comments, it looks like the Arcadia interconnects still provide a reasonable amount of upper-range detail.

In describing the design differences between Arcadia and Fusion, an email from Raymond at Zavfino USA says "The Fusion is a hybrid design of solid pure silver and PCOCC single crystal copper whereas the Arcadia is just OCC copper." Do you know the difference between PCOCC and OCC copper?

Thanks again for your help!

Thanks to both @lalitk and @thyname for the helpful info. 

So I guess that both PCOCC and OCC are Ohno Continuous Cast copper, but the PCOCC copper is at a higher level of purity. I'm assuming that any OCC copper is continuous "single crystal" copper, but maybe that's not the case.

Listening to the different interconnects certainly makes the most sense, but I noticed that Zavfino's return policy includes a restocking fee so I wanted to pin down my cable choices as much as possible before ordering anything. If cost were not an issue at all, I would simply get a 5-meter length of the 1-meter Cardas Clear Reflection XLRs I use now, but I haven't been able to adjust to the idea of spending more than $3k just for a pair of long interconnects. It looks like there are some good values in the Zavfino cable lines, and I'm just trying to see if one of these options might work in my system. I guess I'll need to let my ears be the judge.

With the reasonable prices and all the positive comments about Zavfino cables, I went ahead and ordered a pair each of the Fusion and Arcadia XLRs to try in my system. I've had the cables for only 2 days so they still need more break-in time and I can't make any definitive comments yet. However, my initial impressions of the Fusion XLRs are very positive. Even straight out of their packaging, the Fusions sound clear, open, and natural, with well-balanced sound and good tonal accuracy (e.g., a piano sounds like a piano). The Arcadia sounds pleasant, smooth, and forgiving, but the Fusion sounds more "real" in my system.

If you haven't seen it yet, take a look at the very positive review of the Fusion interconnects and Nova speaker cables from 11/1/21 on the-ear. 

@behzad 

Here are my comments on the Arcadia and Fusion interconnects from last December. I hope these are helpful:

Now that I have had three weeks to try out the Zavfino Fusion and Arcadia interconnects (as balanced XLRs), I wanted to update the initial impressions I summarized earlier in this thread. Most of my impressions have remained unchanged. I still think that the Fusions sound clear, open, and quite natural, with well-balanced sound overall. In my system, the Arcadia continues to sound warm, smooth, and forgiving, but the highs sound a bit softened or rounded off. There seems to be plenty of bass, but it doesn't sound particularly well-controlled or refined to me. Imaging is okay, but not outstanding. In contrast, the Fusion is more transparent, images better, and sounds more "real."

Because my early listening favored the sound of the Fusion over the Arcadia, I spent more time with the Fusion and made direct comparisons with my reference XLR, the Cardas Clear Reflection. In comparison to the Cardas CR, the Fusion doesn't sound as full-bodied or rich. It simply has less "meat on the bones," as some reviewers like to say. It was also not as forgiving on poor recordings or as musical on good recordings that included many overlapping layers of sound, such as the song "The Price of Love" on the recent Robert Plant-Alison Krauss album "Raise the Roof." Too often, I thought that the Fusion needed more weight to match the rich fullness of the Cardas CR. In terms of the warm-cool spectrum, I thought the Fusion was fairly neutral while the CR adds a bit of warmth without overdoing it - at least in my system. 

Although I had hoped that the Fusion might equal or even surpass the CR in my system and for my preferences, the CR still won out. Providing amazing clarity and excellent imaging while costing less than a third of what the CR costs, the Fusion XLR is an exceptional value. 

@treebeard1,  I wanted to clarify an issue with the wire gauge in the Cardas speaker cable you mentioned earlier when discussing the 9 AWG wire in the Zavfino Prima cables. The Cardas Clear Beyond uses 8 x 10.5 AWG wires, which means that the total wire thickness at each connector is 4 x 10.5 AWG in a stereo set-up. This corresponds to an effective wire gauge that is far thicker (between 4 and 5 AWG) than 9 AWG at each connector. The Cardas Clear Reflection uses even more copper, using 12 X 11.5 AWG for each cable or 6 X 11.5 per connector. 

Of course, there's a lot more going on in all these speaker cable designs than just wire gauge.